Pages

9.6.18

Stacie on the road:- "Cornish Adventure..."

St Moritz - Polzeath, Cornwall

After Mark and my Edinburgh trip we decided a relaxed trip was very much in need especially with our current goings on in life (also the reason for lack of blogs, sorry!) So we decided Cornwall might be a lovely way to go and I was fortunate enough that I happened across The St Moritz hotel on Instagram, someone I follow happened to be staying there and I just thought it look amazing and the area looked so peaceful and so relaxing so that was that we had to stay there.

I wasn't quite prepared for how lovely the hotel was going to be or quite how accommodating for our needs it would be. As a disabled/terminally ill person finding hotels that have EVERYTHING you require is virtually impossible, there is almost always something missing and usually you just have to accept that that is the case, well not here. The St Moritz was utterly amazing; we had a suite, it had a kitchen, a living/dining area, a conservatory, a patio, a great sized double bedroom and fully accessible bathroom. Every corner of that suite was accessible to my wheelchair! They even had a hoist if that was a requirement of mine which it could possibly be for future stays as I get worse as it led from Bath, toilet to bed which I thought really was great!

There really is nothing about our room that I think could have been improved on and I genuinely never thought we'd find a room that could do that because there is always something, you know, there is always something and whether that sounds pessimistic to you then fine but in our experience there really is always something missing but not here.

Our stay was lovely though, unfortunately I was quite poorly during this trip which was completely unexpected but having such a beautiful and comfortable place to stay really made the trip so enjoyable, I booked myself in for a Manicure and Pedicure and Mark used their Pool and spa facilities. It was quite lovely to have a Mani-Pedi as it really is one of those things that takes a side seat when you're poorly as you're so focused on just pills, doctors, appointments, and just generally keeping up with other things in life that aren't your nails lol. The staff were second to none as well they were just so friendly and accommodating but not in that annoying on top of you way and you didn't feel uncomfortable asking for something if you needed anything. It really was just a amazing experience for a hotel and me and Mark very rarely say we'll go back to a specific hotel but we've actually already decided we'll be making a return visit at some point this year, we really did love it that much.

Padstow - Cornwall

Padstow we only spent the day and we definitely need longer than a day really but we actually found we really loved it here. So many people said to us that we had to visit Padstow and that we had to go here or there whilst we were there. Now I'm one of those people that if too many people are saying something is great it probably isn't that great if you know what I mean? A bit like "The Walking Dead" or those really horrendous critically acclaimed films that are actually crap and shouldn't be winning anything. So I worried people were hyping up Padstow and I'd actually be super disappointed, I wasn't thankfully.

Mark and I really did have a wonderful walk along their bike trail which we plan on doing more of next time and actually might hire out a bike with a bit for me to sit in :-D. We went in some of the shops and had a general wonder of the harbour and took note of the restaurants and place we had to come back to see. One thing we did do whilst we were there was try out Rick Steins fish and chips and I'm going to be completely honest with you all and say, I wasn't impressed..... I'm sorry guys! I just wasn't I had cod bites and chips and although the cod bites were lovely the chips just didn't live up to expectation. We actually have a fish and chip place here in Norwich that I regard much more highly, "Grosvenor Fish Bar" absolutely amazing fish and chips in my opinion :-/. That being said however he did have some amazing ice-cream which was really yummy!

We got really lucky with weather this day and spent our whole day just having a lovely time and we can't wait to make a return. The weather has however led to my current downfall (to be revealed...)

Fistral Beach Hotel and Spa - Newquay, Cornwall

Next stop was our next hotel which was Fistral Beach hotel and spa. Now this was also a lovely hotel but you know how I said there's usually always something missing when you're of the disabled variety? Well this is a prime example. As lovely as hotels are and can be they can be let down by their lack of thought when it comes to someone with accessible needs. Firstly it was like an obstacle course or marathon length to get to the reception in the first place when having a simple ramp would have been ample enough but no you had to go through two restaurant areas, actually past the reception, up past their toilets and past their spa area, back through the bar area and finally you were at the reception area. All credit to them though their check in service was lovely with a lovely complimentary drink that was quite tasty.

Now I completely understand that all hotel rooms aren't going to be like the St Moritz so the Fistral Beach hotel did have quite a lovely room with a lovely bathroom and its defining feature was certainly it's view. Mark and I always enjoy a lovely sea view and we love waking up to the sound of the sea and just being able to see it from your room so it was definitely worth it for that. MY only annoyance I suppose was having steps up to the room, they were only two but I really feel for any guest who is disabled who physically is incapable of walking at all luckily I can at least combat two steps.

Here is where I discovered my sunburn :-/ and not just 'ye olde' regular sunburn, actual great big old blistering sun burn. Mark and I weren't even in the sun for that long whilst in Padstow but my knees were exposed and due to my severely immunosuppressed immune system when I get sunburnt I REALLY get sunburnt! I have been in agony for days now but, we're dealing with it. Lots of Aloe Vera Gel at the moment :-). It didn't stop us getting out though, with the disappointment of Rick Stein's in Padstow we decided instead to give "The Fish House" next door which is by the chef who actually studied under Rick Stein for 15years. Now this was much better or maybe it was because we didn't really have any expectations but I had a 'Fish Finger sandwich,' Mark had a Seabass wrap and we shared bread and squid. It was Soooo Yummy!!!

Although Mark and I had brought my off road wheelchair with us and had been using it we actually decided that to get on the beach we should give their accessible wheelchair a go and see how it compared to our one. Bare in mind they are different as in technically the wheels especially. Our wheels are more like bike wheels whereas as you can see in the picture these are more round and bouncy like, wheels with a greater surface area. Now as a passenger I feel safer in our chair but not dangerously unsafe in this one. Mark says they both have their pros and cons. Our wheelchair isn't amazing with the softer sand but can combat it whereas this chair gets over the softer sand more easily probably because of the wider tyres. However on the harder, wetter sand our chair is much better although this one still does the job. Both however still require a bit of a push if you're going uphill on soft sand so may require a strong surfer guy to help out lol.

* * * * * * * *

Overall our trip really was lovely even though I was quite poorly throughout I did find that I really did like Cornwall a lot! I spent a lot of my childhood in Devon so know I love that kind of area anyway but to experience it as an adult is lovely. I know our trips are always slightly marred by my illness but we still manage it regardless of that. People do sort of seem to see the holidays and I wonder whether they think they are easy? I hope not in a sense because Mark really goes out of his way to plan our trips to a T so that if anything really does occur and go wrong we're in a position that we can cope with it and get it sorted. There is so much planning and sometimes stress behind our trips before we actually go on them and I guess we don't show that side of things very often and that is also why it is so important for us to have a nice place to stay that accommodates to our needs because sometimes if I do get poorly that is predominately where we'll be staying and you certainly don't want somewhere dreary and dower if you're going to be ill.

We really can't thank the St Moritz enough though for being so accommodating and providing us with our first hotel ever that we actually will be returning to! :-)

No comments:

Post a Comment

I'm in my 20's and after waiting 3 years,
I underwent a heart and double lung transplant because I suffered from a illness called Pulmonary Hypertension.

This blog is where I documented that journey and will continue to document all the amazing highs and the lows post-transplant. I hope to continue to raise awareness for both PH and organ donation and I would love for you to continue to share this journey with me.